New Hamburg-Nuremberg Block-Train Service Started by Vienna-based Roland Spedition

Starting last week, Vienna-based Roland Spedition forwarders is running its own container-block-train service linking three Hamburg Container Terminals: CTA, CTB and EKOM/EUROGATE with the TRICON Terminal in Nuremberg. Initially, there are three weekly departures on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from Hamburg. The containers are available for collection at the TRICON Terminal in Nuremberg on Tuesdays from 10.00 am, Thursdays from 6.00 am and Fridays from 11.00 am. Nikolaus Hirnschall M.A. of Roland Spedition Vienna points out that block-trains for on-carriage from Nuremberg to Austria also transport empty containers to Linz, Enns, Vienna and Graz. “The round-trip service, Hamburg-Nuremberg-Austria-Hamburg, offers additional fast and environment-friendly transport capacity by rail on the Hamburg-Nuremberg leg, for import containers coming out of the Port of Hamburg en route to the economically-strong Nuremberg region. There is real interest in the new train showing its acceptance in the market place. With the service from Nuremberg to Austria, we additionally offer our customers cost-effective empty container positioning. Interested shippers can obtain a thorough briefing on the new train products and offerings from the Roland Spedition sales team,” explains Hirnschall.

Bavaria is the most important partner for container hinterland transport for the Port of Hamburg. Its strongly export-oriented commerce exploits Hamburg’s dense network of liner services for global goods distribution. Almost every port in the world is reachable via Hamburg. Some 750,000 standard containers (TEU) were transported to/from Bavaria via Hamburg in 2015. With the new Roland Spedition rail service, between Hamburg and Nuremberg there are now a total of 118 block-train offerings in the market place: There are 62 Hamburg-Nuremberg on the import side and 56 on the export side. This underlines Hamburg’s outstanding importance in seaport hinterland traffic by rail for this region. Considerably fewer block-train services are offered in Rotterdam, with only 10 services per week between Nuremberg and Rotterdam. Between Antwerp and Nuremberg there are currently none.

“The Port of Hamburg is continuing to build up its position as the leading rail port in Europe. Every new block-train service provider to/from Hamburg strengthens our competitive position in the market. Together with our partners in the port and hinterland we actively promote freight transport by rail. With diverse measures and activities, we strive to make intermodal seaport hinterland transport even more efficient and effective, intending to make it even more attractive for our port customers,” states Jürgen Behrens, Port of Hamburg Marketing Representative in Munich.

Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing, explains: “The price advantage and the great number of Hamburg block-train departures, offered to customers by the numerous operators, is not enough on its own. Rail freight service offerings must be developed both market-driven and customer-friendly regarding reliability and flexibility. A high-performance rail infrastructure is a really important precondition.” Behrens and Mattern are therefore extremely pleased that the State is creating an important alternative to the heavily used North-South axis, Hamburg-Hannover-Würzburg, by upgrading the ‘Eastern Corridor’ line. After all, in future companies in the hinterland need to be able to ship their cargo seamlessly via Germany’s major universal port. This also safeguards added value and jobs in the country,” adds Mattern.

In 2015, from the Port of Hamburg, a total of some 2.3 million TEU were transported by rail in seaport hinterland transport. That is almost as many as the total of all rail transport for the other major North Sea ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven. More than 200 freight trains are cleared everyday in the port of Hamburg. Every week 268 block-trains link Hamburg with the Bavarian terminals in Hof, Ingolstadt, Schweinfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, Regensburg, Augsburg, Burghausen, Wiesau and Bamberg.